Goethe wins Euroformula race two at Estoril despite penalty

Photo: Fotospeedy

Motopark’s Oliver Goethe recovered from a bad start and a five-second penalty to win the partially reversed-grid Euroformula race at Estoril.

Another slow getaway dropped Goethe from fourth to seventh at the start and, after charging through the field, he clashed with Drivex School’s Alex Peroni while fighting for the lead.

Despite being penalised for the incident, Goethe pulled out enough of a margin before the finish of the 20-lap race to win by 1.268s from team-mate Frederick Lubin, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Sebastian Ogaard completing the podium. 

A great launch enabled Peroni to pull out an early lead from pole ahead of Ogaard and Lubin, while Saturday’s winner Christian Mansell moved up two spots to fourth.

But an opening-lap clash between CryptoTower Racing Team’s Vlad Lomko and VAR’s Nicola Marinangeli resulted in both making early visits to the pits, with the latter eventually retiring.

Lubin tried a move up the inside of Ogaard for second into turn one, with the latter appearing to leave the track while remaining ahead.

Ogaard was eventually ordered to hand the position to Lubin and, after moving aside, was then immediately passed for third by the recovering Goethe, who had been lurking close behind. Goethe took second away from Lubin at half-distance, with Peroni now leading by three seconds.

But that gap was eradicated over the next few laps by Goethe. While trying to move up the inside of Peroni, he clipped the back of him and he tumbled down to fourth.

After being penalised while in the lead, Goethe continued to push to build a winning advantage. Ogaard finished 3s behind Lubin in third, while CrytoTowers’s Josh Mason had to settle for fifth despite a late battle with Peroni.

BVM Racing’s Francesco Simonazzi finished sixth ahead of VAR’s Filip Ugran. Mansell slipped back to eighth, having lost three places in one corner when Simonazzi moved up the inside of him at the hairpin halfway through the race.

Race result (20 laps)